Certified Non-GMO
by brilliant star
Summary: Maki grows a tomato plant.
For no special occasion or any very compelling reason, other than reasons of affection and dumb love, Rin presents Maki with a plain white envelope before class starts and while people are still settling down at their desks. Rin, of course, will probably be one of the last to sit, since she has to bug Maki as part of her daily morning routine.

Maki only offers a half-hearted thanks and moves to tuck it away somewhere in her bag. Rin excitedly grabs her wrist. "Open it!"

"Right now?"

"Yeah! It's gotta be now!"

This is _Rin,_ so Maki knows the danger could range from glitter that will explode all over her once she opens it to a sloppy doodle of a cat with a cheesy " _I love you!_ " note. She'd rather take the glitter. The embarrassment wouldn't be as potent.

But it's not glitter, and there's a suspicious lack of cat doodles, and Maki confusedly pulls out a little packet from the envelope. It rattles when she shakes it. It's so innocuous she can't help but be vaguely suspicious.

"Rin, why are you giving me this?"

"Be _cause,"_ Rin leans over Maki's desk and sticks her tongue out. "I thought you'd like it, duh! Oh, but you don't eat the seeds. You plant them."

"I know what to do with these!" Maki indignantly glowers, still holding onto the packet of tomato seeds. "Go away! The teacher's going to get mad at you again for not being in your seat."

Rin doesn't even need to ask if Maki likes the impromptu gift. She spins on her heel and marches off to her desk, glancing back over her shoulder with a silly grin aimed at Maki. Some of their peers are giggling or rolling their eyes; Maki hunches over and realizes there's something else left in the envelope.

It's a folded scrap of paper signed from Rin. _"I love you!"_

Maki groans and avoids looking in Rin's direction.

—

The first thing she does when she gets home is ask her mother for a flowerpot, then if she can borrow some of the soil from the gardens. And then she dodges all the following questions about if Maki's getting into gardening and such. No, Mama, it's just for a class project, yes, she knows exactly what she's doing and doesn't need help.

She needs help, but she's not going to ask anyone for it. Instead, Maki looks through her family's library and then the internet instead of doing homework.

—

"Take responsibility, Rin." Maki's serious like she always is, or tries to be. Which is pretty silly considering what she's being so serious about, and Rin's not polite enough to not laugh.

"I didn't think you'd actually plant them, Maki-chan! Nyaa, this makes me so happy!"

"Of course I'd plant them! I like tomatoes." Maki's face is also the color of a tomato right now. "B-but, anyway, you should come over after school to see how they're doing."

Rin slightly bends at the hip, hands folded behind her back, peering up at Maki like a curious kitty. She flashes a bit of teeth. "Is this the first time Maki-chan's inviting me over of her own free will?"

"Don't make me take back my offer!"

More laughter and more indignant snapping later, classes end and there's no practice so Rin tags behind Maki after they bid their friends goodbye. Hanayo is staying behind to watch idol videos with Nico otherwise she would've come along, probably. Maki feels a little selfish, maybe, keeping Rin for herself today, but that's a weird way to put it and— right, she should stop thinking about that before her face turns red and Rin laughs at her. Again.

She hopes her mama watered the soil like she had asked her to this morning.

"So, so!" Rin darts in front of her, walking backwards. "Did they start sprouting yet!"

"Just a little. I only planted them not long ago. Maybe I should use a bigger pot…" Maki muses to herself, folding her arms. "Well, I read in a book that it could be as long as three months before I get any actual tomatoes."

Very seriously, almost as serious as Maki, Rin nods. "Raising babies takes time and effort, Maki-chan."

Maki chops Rin on the head.

—

Surprisingly Maki's bedroom doesn't have a fancy patio outside, but it does have a large bay window where the tomato plant is basking in the sun. Maki lets Rin run around her room for a bit before snatching her by the sleeve to remind her why she's here in the first place. A tiny poking green thing is shyly peeking out from the soil. Maki kneels on the floor by the window where it sits and Rin follows suit.

Then Maki says something completely out of the blue and nearly makes Rin double-take. "Hey, sing with me."

"Huh?"

"I'm not going to repeat myself," Maki coldly nudges Rin's shoulder a bit too roughly and gestures to the flowerpot. "Singing helps plants grow. I've been singing to it since the day I planted the seeds."

Wisely, Rin does not laugh. Instead, she has to discreetly take a deep breath to contain herself before she tackles the other girl. _How is Maki-chan even this cute?_

"… Well?" Maki fidgets.

"A-ah, well, um, why me? You're asking Rin to do something like this with you?"

"You're the one who gave me the seeds in the first place!" Maki's almost too flustered for this. Almost. "So you're like… like…"

"Oh! Rin's the father, and you're the mother!"

Maki smacks Rin. "It's weird when _you_ say it out loud!"

"Ow-! But that's what you were thinking?!"

"Stop shouting!" Maki suddenly lowers her voice to a very annoyed hiss, protectively cupping a hand over the little sprout as if it can hear them. "We have to _sing_ , okay? Otherwise it won't grow to be as big or strong as other tomato plants."

Even Rin knows that that sort of thing won't actually do anything, but she beams and cuddles up beside Maki. How often does a moment like this come along? She'd be a real idiot to pass. Maki restores the distance between them with a disgruntled sound, but Rin's still sitting closer to her than she was before. That's fine.

"Alright! You lead us off then, Maki-chan!"

She feels rather silly singing to a plant, but the look on Maki's face makes it worth it.

—

The plant grows day by day and Rin continues to visit day after day, always happy to let Maki babble about the science of agriculture and how their tomato plant is doing. _Their_ tomato plant, Rin realizes one day, though it had always been an unspoken co-op thing from the beginning. Eventually they relocate the plant to a bigger pot, then to a plot in the Nishikinos' garden between flowerbeds.

Maki's eyes are sparkling like it's Christmas morning when they discover the first buds among the crowded leaves. "See? All that singing paid off."

Rin suspects it had more to do with the top quality fertilizer Mrs. Nishikino had bought, but she lets Maki's eyes continue to sparkle. She's so impossibly cute at this moment that Rin has to grab Maki with a tight hug. Naturally, Maki squawks and begins to struggle.

"You know what we should do!" Rin nuzzles Maki's face. "Let's get everyone over and we can all sing to the plant!"

Maki doesn't say yes, but she doesn't say no either. She goes still and looks away, mumbling so quietly that Rin has to strain her ears to hear. "… M-Mato-chan. Its name is Mato-chan."

That level of adorable prompts Rin to attack Maki with a barrage of kisses.

—

"You guys _named_ this thing?" Nico snickers, hands on her hips as she critically examines the plant. "Wow, I didn't think Maki could get lamer than that."

Umi threateningly puts a hand on the back of her small upperclassman's neck. "Nico…"

She obediently shuts up but continues to snicker to herself.

" _I_ think it's cute!" Kotori sighs, closing her eyes for a moment and leaning against Hanayo. "I had no idea Maki-chan and Rin-chan were already parents, too. You guys grew up too fast for us…!"

"Stop saying that! It's not like that!" Maki fumes. "Mato-chan is, is more like—"

"— _Bahahaha! Mato-chan!"_ Nico can't hold herself back any longer. She earns a headlock from Honoka which shuts her up again.

"Singing to it every day, though…" It's weird, but it's also not very weird for a girl who still believes in Santa. But it's still weird for a girl who firmly believes in science and logical rationale. It's weird overall, actually. Eli offers a weak shrug and smile. "That takes real dedication?"

"I thought all nine of us here would be too many." Maki says. "But Rin said everyone should at least meet Mato-ch— should… see our tomato plant."

Her embarrassment is nearly infectious. Only Rin seems more or less unaffected, and she spread her arms wide with a shameless grin. "Yeah! Because Rin's the papa, and Maki-chan's the mama! And Mato-chan's our baby!"

" _Rin!_ I told you, stop saying things like that!"

—

"So," Nozomi and Rin stroll to a more secluded spot among the hedges while everyone else is either wandering around the gardens or pestering Maki about the plant. "Rin-chan's a papa now, huh? How does that feel?"

"Mmmh," Rin hums, thinking it over. "It's fun! I get to visit Maki-chan every day, and she reaaaally likes taking care of Mato-chan!"

Nozomi could easily make a dirty joke about Rin and Maki and their newfound parenthood, but she's not tactless like Nico. They're children. Their innocence is like holy water to Nozomi and she nearly winces just thinking about it.

Ah, youth.

"But, Rin-chan!" Nozomi holds back a telling smirk. "To have a child before marriage is a little…"

Rin catches on quick, but she's only catching onto the blatant bait. "I should marry Maki-chan?!"

"I can tell Maki-chan's dying for you to propose, you know. I can sense those kinds of things."

"Really…?!"

"Mmhm, really. Go, Rin-chan! Before your chance slips away!"

"Nyaa, you're right! Where's Maki-chan?! I gotta find her now—!"

Rin sprints off and Eli emerges from behind a bush a moment too late, bringing an icy chill with her. She clamps down on Nozomi's shoulder with a warning grip, but Nozomi doesn't even flinch.

"You're a _terrible_ role model for children."

"We'll see about that, Elicchi." Nozomi winks without missing a beat. "You know, when we have our own kids."

She leaves Eli to choke as Maki's flustered shrieks rise above the garden, Rin chasing after her yelling something about marriage.

* * *

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 **A/N** **:** i just wanted to write something pure and wholesome


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